Blogging

I used to do something similar to blogging. I used to own a Xanga, if anyone remembers the Xanga days, before MySpace even existed.

This was somewhat similar, and the technology was relatively easy. Nothing that I'm not used to, I've had more complicated things to do online. I've always liked receiving comments on something I post, so that's the fun part about blogging.

Writing an entry was both easy and complicated to do. It depends on what I had to write about. 250 words was perhaps a struggle, not because it's 250 words, but because I'm a procrastinator and I'm not going to lie. Although we had like a whole week to complete our blog, I kept waiting until Saturday night/Sunday morning. I work in Manhattan and live in Long Island, go figure. Sometimes I lose track of time and forget it's Saturday.

So I don't think deadlines were good ideas, I think it would have been better if you just set up all the blogs at once and see what people do and won't do. That probably would work better for me. Same idea with a project, you get it in advance and it's due in like a couple months.

I've probably learned a few things from blogging, I liked learning what other people had to say about certain things.

I've never had to do something related to blogging in other courses, this was the first time I've done this as class assignments. I had something similar though, such as the CUNY portal blackboard, where we had to post a few things once in a while in the discussion board. And give feedback to others.

I probably would continue blogging, but knowing me I almost never do what I say I will.

The Green Book

The Green Book is perhaps one of the most easy-to-read-and-understand guide to a greener world.

There's actually quite a few tips in this book that are really easy to do, and it's amazing at what a big difference it can make.


Let me start with running water. We have this kind of rule in my house where whatever we do, whether it's brushing teeth or washing dishes, to turn off the water while doing so, or at least keep it running lightly. I rarely use the stove at home, but when I do, it's either to cook something real quick or just make some instant oatmeal. I like to stick to natural foods, and if anything else, I use the microwave. When my mom goes shopping, the plastic bags she comes home with are always used for our trash. The only light bulbs that are used in my house, for the most part, are the new fluorescent light bulbs. If every American did this, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.

Most of my household duties follow the green book guides. The green book recommends warm wash and cold rinse cycles for washing machines, and that's the kind of cycle I always use to do laundry.

I've heard all about unplugging equipment when it's not in use, and it's a tip in this book, of course. But I never seem to unplug anything when it's not in use. Especially my computer, it has a million and one plugs, I don't think I would want to unplug and plug these all over again.


As for DVDs, I either purchase movies On Demand or go to Blockbuster Video and rent. But then again, I have cable, so that's enough channels for me to watch, and I don't really rent or purchase movies too often.

I use my Sidekick for jus tabout anything, email, text messaging, communication, whatever else. Since it's quick and easy, and compact, I don't bother going on the computer that much for a small activity I can already do on my sidekick. I have a digital camera, digital television, digital phone, and high speed internet. These are considered a plus in the book, so I take it for the most part there's no difficulty in doing things to help the environment.

I try to recycle as much as I can, and I highly dislike throwing even a small piece of gum paper on the floor. I always use trash cans.

Everyone should able to purchase this book, it'll help a great deal for the environment, especially those skeptical and ignorant people, as well as those who don't really have an idea what global warming really is and what exactly is they're doing to make matters worse.

Paper Evaluation

Rhodine's Paper

1. Thesis: Environmental Racism. She introduces this topic at the introduction. I think you should give a more detailed explanation about Environmental Racism. Then add the places in which this is occurring.

2. A really interesting part I found on this paper was this: ". The reason that the poor and/or the color get dumped on is because of the lack of voice within the community. Whenever they try to place waste transfer stations in a higher income community the residents take on a NIMBY (Not in MY Back Yard) attitude." I never saw things from this perspective. This is a good support to your topic.

3. So far, I don't see any use of sources. And Rhodine, you might want to proofread your paper. I'm seeing some spelling and grammar errors, for instance, "The 23 waste transfer stations, miles of expressways, sewage-treatment plant and truck traffic in the South Bronx have cause some of the highest rates of asthma I the country." The particles from the diesel trucks have been linked to the causes of asthma." By cause I'm sure you mean "caused" and in the country instead of I. Just pointing out a few.

As for Fletcher's paper, I don't see it uploaded.

MTA Going Green?

I was on my way to school the other day, and I couldn't help but notice the sign that is stuck on nearly every trash bin in the subway system. I'm sure you've seen them, they look like this:


It's always been an issue on how dirty the subways can be, and there's always some undergoing maintenance to keep the stations clean and safe, it gets annoying. Now it's obvious that the MTA is serious about the environment and the cleanliness of the subways. This is the kind of sign that actually catches people's attention. As I was walking, I saw somebody stopping to read and acknowledge the sign, and that's always as good thing.

According to ABC7 News, "Transit officials said Monday they would make subways, trains and buses more environmentally friendly through measures such as use of solar and wind power and incentives for developers to build near train stations."

I’d like to see further developments with MTA’s steps towards keeping the subways clean, and green.

If you'd like to learn more about this, visit the MTA website.
http://www.mta.info/nyct/facts/ffenvironment.htm

Visiting the American Museum of Natural History, the only place that attracted me the most was the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth.

The first exhibition in this hall was on global warming, and that's the topic I will be writing about, including how climate change is an effect of this.

I think a good place where this paper could be published is to any scientific magazine or company that is into improving global warming, or that looks at the causes of it.

It is very well-known that our atmosphere is not like it was before. Ocean currents are not like they were before. Hurricanes happen more often than they did before. The climate is warmer than it has ever been before. And all of this is helpful into the cause of solving the issue of global warming.

Global warming has always been a topic that's fascinating to me. However, it is also a huge issue, and I'll be narrowing it down to the specifics, such as climate change and the rise of sea levels and such. I will explain what global warming really is and why it is happening, and what can be done. There are a lot of government websites and others that will help me into obtaining enough research to write a 10 to 12 page paper.

The NOAA Satellite and Information Service has everything there needs to be about global warming, including climate changes and sea levels. This will be extremely helpful in writing my paper.
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html

The Environmental Protection Agency will also be helpful into researching my paper. Climate change is the target topic of global warming.
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/

An Inconvenient Truth - Also very important. It has nearly everything about the Earth that connects to the effects of global warming. I think this will be tons of help.
http://www.climatecrisis.net/thescience/

The Grass Is Greener On The Other Side. But Wait, What Grass? Nature's Not What It Used To Be- I Know You've Noticed, It's Not Only Me.

Looking back at the first day of class, I remember thinking that it was going to be a class I would definitely be interested into. It didn’t take much for me to realize that the class was going to be about environmental issues, much less global warming. And global warming has always been a fascinating topic to me, something that I have no hesitation learning more about.

From Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth to Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff, I have realized that my knowledge on the environment and beyond has expanded. I’ve always wanted to see Al Gore’s documentary, and I finally did. And Annie Leonard’s story was really interesting. My perspective on things has changed.

In fact, to be honest, before I took this class I didn’t take much consideration into the environmental issues to global warming. Sure, I did know that global warming was occurring because of greenhouse gases, toxic waste, cars, people, etc. But it goes way beyond that, to the point where it is possible for everyone to take action and one by one by one slowly change the environment as it is today to prevent global warming.

This class has been inspirational in many ways; and I think that sharing opinions about the environment with other classmates and being able to read each other’s blog is a way to motivate us to achieve more towards improving environmental issues.

It wasn’t too long until I began taking this course that I have noticed billboards on subway and buses that advertise “green” stuff. There’s a variety of ads I noticed that mention such things as “Work Green” and similar things that encourage New Yorkers to switch to things that will help improve the environment.

I’m really looking forward to the research paper, I believe from writing that paper I’ll be able to learn a lot more about how humans might affect the environment, and why this happening, and when it began happening. I will be able to look into matters more deeply, and by the end of the semester, I’ll most likely end up going green. This course, and it’s not even the end of the semester yet, has helped me come to a lot of realizations about what is really happening today.

Going Green

I posted on Vanessa's blog.
http://greenasathistle.com/


On the other hand, I found a few websites that you might also find interesting.
http://www.culligan.com/index.cfm/id/167/title/Green.html
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/goinggreen/13655309/detail.html